THE LAKE OF DREAMS by KIM EDWARDS

 

THE LAKE OF DREAMS

BY KIM EDWARDS

THE BLURB:-

The darkest secrets are the ones we hide from ourselves...

Ten years ago, traumatised by her father's death, Lucy left her home and her country. Now she returns to her family's rambling lakeside home to lay old ghosts to rest.

Sleepless one night, Lucy makes a momentous discovery. Locked in a moonlit window seat is a collection of family heirlooms- objects whose secrets no one was ever supposed to find. Piecing together her family's true history, she realises that the story she has always been told was a fiction.

Mesmerising and haunting, The Lake of Dreams is a startling story of family secrets and lies, lost love and redemption, and of the many puzzles and pieces that make up a life.

THE REALITY:-

Again, this book took me some time to devour as I read it towards the end of my MA course, and theoretical coursework reading had to take priority.

Sensual. Yes, I would describe this book as sensual, with every nuance of Lucy's connection with her environment in Japan and New York State brought to life with detailed descriptions covering all of the senses. Through characterisation, we got a real feel for Lucy's connection with the facets that make up a planet. I say through characterisation, as Lucy's a hydrologist, so I suppose she would be interested in natural geography. Art was also covered, through the beautifully designed historical stained glass windows we get to see, described in fine detail, and astrology too, as Haley's Comet makes an appearance, in 1910. Incidentally, I think I may have seen it when it returned, in 1986. I can't be sure- it was well covered in the news at the time, I was 14 and did look up to the sky that evening to see if I could spot it, having always been interested in astronomy after seeing a total eclipse of the moon circa 1981. Did I see Haley's Comet? I'm not sure. Maybe. But the sparkling thing in the sky could just have well have been an aeroplane!

Back to the novel, and it certainly grabbed me whenever I was able to catch up with it, although the distance in times between picking it up meant I had to backtrack more than once. Told, in parts, in the epistolary style, with letters mainly from Rose, the “hidden” ancestor (hidden as she had an illegitimate child), it wove beautiful tale towards a satisfying conclusion. There were many great characters in this book- I liked artistic Keegan, Lucy's first love, Reverend Suzi and Lucy's mother. I also adored the idea of a moon garden, planted with ethereal fauna and flora, and part-inspired by a Virginia Woolf quote. I also enjoyed reading about not-so-pleasant people, such as Lucy's cousin Joey, and her uncle with his dark secret (nope, I'm not going to do a spoiler alert!) I also enjoyed the theme of the family's locksmith company, and the fact that most of them could have alternative careers as safe breakers if they so desired!

However... (there has to be a “however,” doesn't there?) there were discrepancies. If Avery is running a vegetarian restaurant, then why was it serving up turkey sandwiches? The last time I checked, turkeys were not considered to be vegetarian. Also, was it really necessary to have four generations of men called Joseph Arthur? Talk about confusing the issue. There was also a family tree at the back of the novel (a strange place to put it), but I think there was a reason why it was stuffed at the back. Joseph Arthur Jarrett I died in 1970. Joseph Arthur Jarrett II (his son) in 1972. Why then, on page 323, was the will of Arthur Jarrett I mentioned to be written in 1972? It's a bit hard for dead people to write wills, so maybe the author/ publisher realised there was a cock-up and shoved the family tree at the back at the eleventh hour. Also, Rose's relationship with Frank was hinted at; she had tuberculosis in 1938, so it was assumed (by me) that that was what killed her, in 1942. Frank also died that year. Was his demise down to the same condition? That was something that was never explained, and it needed to be.

A good read, but discrepancies such as these need to be addressed.